The alley was quiet; it seemed everyone had gone to the committee to demand an explanation, which conveniently made it easier for them to get around.
Upon arriving at the Second Light Industry Hospital, the head nurse had made all the arrangements, and no one gave them any trouble. The nurses were all young and open-minded, and they didn't think there was much of a problem with Qin Xiaoyu's situation. They still called her "Sister Qin," which made her feel a little more at ease.
After a period of rest, Qin Xiaoyu's temples throbbed with pain, as if a tendon was being pulled out, and her face turned unusually pale.
My cousin's wife busied herself arranging for the two children, then told her to close her eyes and rest for a bit.
"You have to hang in there, this is just the beginning," her cousin-in-law said with a sigh, gently rubbing her head.
"Don't worry, I can handle it." Qin Xiaoyu didn't open her eyes, but tears slid down her cheeks.
"You should get some sleep. Who knows what kind of trouble you might cause tonight?" Thinking about what happened during the day, my cousin-in-law felt terrified.
"Sister-in-law, you should go back. There's nothing wrong at the hospital. Once my younger sister finishes her IV drip, I'll take them home by car." Qin Xiaoyu was also worried about her family and kept urging her sister-in-law to go back.
"No, I'm not comfortable with that. I'll stay with you." My cousin's wife was determined not to leave.
It wasn't until evening that the younger sister finished her business, and the four of them left the hospital.
As soon as Qin Xiaoyu entered the courtyard, she sensed something was wrong. Her door was open. She had locked it when she came out.
Carrying the child, and braving the light rain, she first took her to her cousin's house to settle in. Upon entering, she saw her luggage lying on the floor, all wet and covered with vegetable leaves and other debris.
"This..." My cousin's wife was also stunned.
"My mistress threw these out, and this is all I picked up; the rest were too dirty." Tang Long was soaked to the bone. He was sleeping when Hanhan's grandmother threw things away, and by the time he found out, they were all gone, so he had to brave the rain to retrieve them.
Qin Xiaoyu shoved her younger sister into her cousin-in-law's arms, rushed over and rummaged through the wet blankets, calling out in a hoarse voice, "Where's my pillow? Where's my pillow!"
"It was too dirty in the garbage dump, so I..."
Before Tang Long could finish speaking, Qin Xiaoyu rushed out without even putting on her raincoat.
The stench from the garbage heap was overwhelming. Her pillow was stained with something so dirty it was unrecognizable. Someone had dumped a whole bucket of swill on top of it.
Qin Xiaoyu didn't care about anything else, grabbed the pillow, and ran home.
“I have too many pillows. I can make you whatever kind you want. You don’t need this one anymore…” The cousin-in-law stared in disbelief as Qin Xiaoyu pulled a plastic bag out of the pillowcase. Inside were stacks of ten-yuan bills and bankbooks. She couldn’t say anything more.
"Throw this away," Qin Xiaoyu said to her cousin-in-law, tossing the wet pillowcase onto the blanket.
My cousin's wife obediently got involved and threw him out.
Qin Xiaoyu filled a basin with water, washed her hands, and then sorted out the money.
"My goodness, how much money is this?" My cousin's wife had never seen so much money in her life, and she was stunned.
"There's 25,000 in the savings account and 10,000 in cash. I didn't leave any money for the school; consider it my own earnings." Qin Xiaoyu picked up the savings account and handed it to her cousin-in-law, saying, "Please keep this safe for me. It's inconvenient for me to carry it with me."
"Yes, I'll definitely keep it safe!" My cousin's wife quickly took it and nodded emphatically.
"I'll deposit some of these into a current account tomorrow, and carry the rest with me just in case." Qin Xiaoyu took out 1,000 yuan, wrapped up the rest, and put it in her bag.
"Isn't it unsafe to carry so much money on you?" my cousin-in-law said worriedly.
"Sometimes money can save lives." After today's events, Qin Xiaoyu needs to be more careful. She can't always be so lucky; she really underestimated Bai Weiwei's power.
After putting the two children to sleep, Qin Xiaoyu returned to her house alone.
The place was a complete mess; it had been smashed by Hanhan's grandmother, and it was impossible to walk inside.
Qin Xiaoyu walked to the corner of the wall, moved a broken jar aside, revealing a box inside, which contained all the treasures her wife had given her.
She moved all her things out, picked up a torn curtain, wrapped it up, and carried it out.
The lights in the lady's room were already off. She knocked gently on the door, but there was no response.
Qin Xiaoyu pushed the door open and went in. The wife was lying with her back to the door, not moving at all.
She placed the things on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) and gently stepped back.
"Little Fish, you should go. Tangjiamiao is too small to protect you," the lady finally spoke.
Tears welled up in Qin Xiaoyu's eyes. Before this, she had always thought she was right, but now she realized that she was wrong, terribly wrong.
"I'm sorry, Madam. I didn't think things through and have caused you trouble. My connection with the Tang family is over. I'm leaving."
"Take what I gave you. I never intended to take it back." The wife didn't turn around, but she knew exactly what was going on.
"Madam, I am the granddaughter-in-law of the Tang family. I felt at ease taking those things, but I am no longer. Thank you for taking care of me all this time. I'm leaving now. Take care." Qin Xiaoyu bowed deeply, rushed out the door, and was already sobbing uncontrollably when she reached the courtyard.
"What did your wife say?"
"It's nothing, sister-in-law, I'm leaving now."
"Where can you go? You can't leave! You'll stay at my house, and I'll see who dares to touch you!" my cousin-in-law said sternly.
"Go ahead and leave, the Tang family can't keep you here. You're too shameful to be true, you should have left long ago! How dare you come back!" Grandma Hanhan cursed through the door.
"Second Aunt, how can you be so unreasonable? How did Xiaoyu treat you? Have you no conscience? How can you just kick them out like this? What are they going to do, these widows and orphans?" My sister-in-law argued with her angrily.
"Sister-in-law, stop talking. Even if you asked me to stay, I wouldn't."
"Hahahaha!" A chilling laugh came from the west room; it was the old woman.
"Don't be so smug. I, Qin Xiaoyu, won't just fall like this. I'll live a life worth living and you'll see!" Qin Xiaoyu said this to the west room, but also to the east room.
She had nothing left to pack, but thankfully the child's clothes were in her cousin's room and were spared damage.
"Where can you go? Back to your parents' home?" Her cousin-in-law still held old-fashioned views, and Qin Xiaoyu couldn't help but smile bitterly.
Her family home was no longer relevant to her. She had someone else in mind.
The storefront she rented with her mentor when they first opened the shop was vacant for two years. She has the keys and plans to stay there with her child for a few days until things calm down.
Her cousin-in-law couldn't refuse her, so she had no choice but to help her move her things over.
After the house had been empty for a long time, the landlord got creative and filled it with all sorts of clutter, like old bicycles and broken tables, making it so crowded that three people couldn't even stand inside.
Qin Xiaoyu asked her cousin-in-law to take the child to a nearby building entrance to take shelter from the rain, as she wanted to tidy up.
"Go away, take the child inside. You're too small for that." Her cousin-in-law pushed her out.
Now is not the time to show off. She has experienced too much today. Qin Xiaoyu is weak all over and sweating profusely. She really can't do anything more.
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